Opinion: With Calgary's can-do attitude, our parks can be envy of Canada

If everyone did their part, Calgary could be known for having the best parks in the country, writes George Brookman.Mike Drew / Postmedia

I want to talk about trees and parks but, first, a confession: I am an unabashed, unapologetic Canadian. Only Canadians will say, “Wow, only minus five today, it’s like spring outside. I guess I don’t need a coat and maybe I will get my car washed.”

We are a hearty people, especially in Alberta, a land that Capt. John Palliser once described as “uninhabitable.” We have made our great city of Calgary, quite simply, a place to be incredibly proud of.

No matter where I travel, I am always a bit boastful when someone asks, “Where are you from?” I respond with, “Calgary, Alberta; the heart of Canada’s energy and agricultural industry.” We are a city of entrepreneurs, risk-takers, dreamers and visionaries. We are a city with energy and with a population that averages 37 years old. We are a city with an unparalleled opportunity for the future.

No political message here — that is simply what we are and always have been.

Looking at photos from the Glenbow Museum, you will see that whether it was an Indigenous camp or the beginnings of a small settlement, Calgary is on a barren landscape, a baldheaded prairie virtually devoid of trees or bushes. The fact that our native ancestors and later our own European ancestors managed to settle here — facing bitterly cold winters and oppressively hot summers to build this community — must be admired.

Perhaps the lands they left behind made this pioneering spirit worthwhile. Perhaps they had even bigger dreams than we have today; whatever they had, they saw it through and we are the beneficiaries of their diligence.

Now, back to trees. Think of this: for all intents and purposes, every single tree in our city has been planted by a human hand. Whether the towering trees in Mount Royal, the poplars in Lake Bonavista or the ash trees and evergreens that line our boulevards, they have all been put there by men and women determined to create an amazing urban forest. They have succeeded and every tree is precious.

Those trees and our parks are all a legacy that we must take care of, nurture, preserve and expand, for they give our city the beauty of nature and the tranquillity that we need in the midst of the hustle-bustle of industry and business.

Every summer, I make a point of visiting some of our most beautiful parks — Riley Park, Reader Rock Gardens, Central Memorial Park, Confederation Park and, of course, Prince’s Island.

These are parks that are beautifully groomed, cared for and offered for the use of our citizens — and use them they do.

However, we also have hundreds of small pocket parks all across the city that provide their own kind of beauty to the urban landscape, and it is these that I worry about the most.

Whether driving to the airport or down Blackfoot Trail, leaving 6th Avenue to go onto 14th Street, or a hundred other little pockets of greenery, too often these parks look neglected and abandoned. I see trees that need trimming, trees that have so many suckers that they are more like bushes than trees, park areas covered with dandelions or other weeds, or even little pocket parks littered with garbage.

It seems to me that in a community looking to employ more young people, the opportunity to put more people onto the summer payroll and generally make our community more beautiful is something we need to expand.

Perhaps we could do an “Adopt a Park” program for some of these areas. Perhaps we could approach businesses and entice them to maintain the trees and bushes in front of their stores and buildings. Even Macleod Trail has miles of boulevards that have been planted with trees and shrubs, but as spring approaches we will see that many of them have not survived the winter or, if they have, they need some tender loving care to make them beautiful.

Can we not ask the businesses behind these boulevards to make a greater effort to keep them healthy?

Here is an initiative that will not cost a lot, that will give people a satisfying opportunity to work for the summer and will make our city more beautiful.

I urge you to take a look around your own businesses, your own homes or your nearby pocket parks and ask yourself what you might do to make them a little bit better.

In the end, wouldn’t it be great if we could be known as the City by the Bow with the most beautiful parks in Canada.”

George Brookman is chief executive of West Canadian Digital Imaging Inc.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.